April 2, 2023 | By Lee Spencer

Kyle Larson rallies for first win of the season at Richmond

Kyle Larson was down but never out at Richmond Raceway on Sunday.

After leading 67 laps in the first two stages, a pit road altercation slowed his progress in the Toyota Owners 400.

But Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team rallied to win their first race of 2023.

“It’s really cool,” Larson said. “We've been close to winning a couple. William (Byron) has been extremely good this year. It was going to be between probably him, the 9 team (Josh Berry), us, and the 20 (Christopher Bell), was really good.

“So just things worked out.”

During his celebratory burnout, Larson offered birthday wishes to his spotter and jackman.

“Not a bad little 30th birthday present, huh boys,” Larson said. “My pit crew had a great stop. So shout out to Brandon Johnson. He is our jackman. He just turned 30 today. Our spotter, Tyler Monn, he turned 30 today. Great day for them guys.”

Berry scored a career-best second-place result. He led 10 laps—his first experience at the point in Cup competition. A fortuitous late-race caution allowed Berry to maintain solid track position for the finish.

“Man, this is really cool,” Berry said. “I have to give all the credit to this NAPA team. Tom (Gray, interim crew chief), Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) remotely, of course, and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. They made some great calls.

“When we got some clean track, we weren't running bad lap times. I'm so glad they tried something different to get us there at the end. Felt like we were decent the whole time. Just getting in cleaner air. We were free to run with Kyle. Man, what a huge day.

“You know, to come here and start in the back, no practice, qualifying, get spun out, work through the field like that, just second place, it's pretty cool.”

Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

William Byron appeared to be the early favorite. He won the first stage on Lap 71—his fifth stage win in 2023—en route to a race-high 117 laps led. Byron retained the lead after pit stops on Lap 74. Twenty-two laps later, Berry spun in Turn 4 after contact with Ryan Blaney to trigger the fourth caution.

Blaney had dropped to 25th after a speeding penalty. Following the accident, Berry fell to 31st on Lap 101.

Green flag stops proved problematic in the second stage. When Larson pitted from the lead on Lap 160, he made contact with Daniel Suarez and damaged the front of his car.

The No. 12 Team Penske Ford would pick up a second penalty on Lap 164 when the crew couldn’t release the wedge wrench from the roof before Blaney left the pits. He finished 26th, one lap down.

Larson cycled back to the point on Lap 167, but Byron passed him for the lead 30 laps later. Larson began to fade as the Toyotas picked up mid-race. Bell took the lead from Byron on Lap 207. Denny Hamlin and Bell exchanged the lead with the No. 11 taking the point—and the Stage 2 win on Lap 231.

The Camrys continued at the point—with Hamlin, Bell and Martin Truex Jr., sharing the lead. A spin by Tyler Reddick on Lap 372 shuffled the deck. Hamlin received a speeding penalty and was mired at 23—the last car on the lead lap.

Larson took the lead out of the pits with Berry alongside. Truex lined up third on scuffs, with Byron fourth. On the Lap 380 restart, Byron remained in contention until he became loose and was spun by Bell entering Turn 1. Byron dropped to 23rd after the eighth and final caution. He finished 24th.

Over the final 13 laps, Truex faded from third to 11th. However, Larson was able to extend his advantage over Berry by 1.535 seconds for his 20th career win and his 14th since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021.

“What an awesome Hendrickcars.com Chevy,” Larson added. “Can't say enough about it. I got into the 99 on pit road there sometime in the second stage, and we were awful after that. I was hoping the damage was the reason why, but they had to calm me down a little bit and get refocused and was able to get it done.

“Thanks to everyone on this team, Cliff Daniels (crew chief), for everything he does to prepare the team to be as strong as we are without him on the box. So good to get a win, and hopefully many more.”

Michael McDowell finished sixth followed by Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski.

Chastain leads the point standings by 30 over Bell. The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next weekend at the Bristol Dirt Track.